Helsinki

Vinkkeli

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment
Helsinki, Finland

After my trip to Slovenia, we decided to celebrate the school autumn break with the family by going out for a dinner. We haven’t been to Vinkkeli (https://www.ravintolavinkkeli.fi/) before, but I’ve heard good things about it, so decided to give a shot. Vinkkeli got 5th place this year in the “Top 50 restaurants” in Finland (chosen by restaurant professionals).

Friendly waitress welcomed us in, took our jackets and showed us to our table. The place is rather small, but big mirrors on the walls give nice feeling of space. The room seemed to be a bit noisy though, so if you are looking for a nice quiet atmosphere, this might not be the place.

Besides à la carte, they offer the fixed price (60€) menu of four dishes. Matching wines roughly doubles the price. We were thinking to go with menu and after hearing what it contained, we didn’t have to think twice. Menu started with sea bass ceviche, accompanied with sweet potato, jalapeño mayo and pickled jalapeños. Really good start, maybe little bit more acid to the fish would have been to my taste.

Next dish suited perfectly the cold rainy weather, the pumpkin soup. The soup was quite rich and served with sautéed pieces of pumpkin and some pumpkin seeds. For main dish, the flask steak with béarnaise sauce and parsnip did not let us down either.

Next dish suited perfectly the cold rainy weather, the pumpkin soup. The soup was quite rich and served with sautéed pieces of pumpkin and some pumpkin seeds. For main dish, the flask steak with béarnaise sauce and parsnip did not let us down either.

Next dish suited perfectly the cold rainy weather, the pumpkin soup. The soup was quite rich and served with sautéed pieces of pumpkin and some pumpkin seeds. For main dish, the flask steak with béarnaise sauce and parsnip did not let us down either. Profiterole filled with white chocolate mousse and cloudberry sorbet was my kind of dessert.

Overall I think it was very nice experience, friendly staff, quite reasonable price (especially, if taking half wine package, which I think would have been enough for a week day…) and most importantly good tasting food from quality ingredients.

Palace

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Helsinki, Finland

Palace is one of the legends in the Helsinki restaurant scene. It dates back to 1952 (year of summer olympics held ín Helsinki) and is first Finnish restaurant to receive a Michelin star. Palace received second star this summer so I was really looking forward to my first visit in two-star restaurant.

You could sense from the very beginning that evening is going to be an experience. I started evening with a house negroni (16 euros with Tanqueray 10 and two different vermouths). Unlike many other fine dining restaurants, Palace has their menu available online so we knew what to expect from it. Palace has version numbering for the menus, which I enjoy having background in software engineering. Now they are serving menu 21.2. You have also a cheat sheet at the table, which makes it easier to follow and remember what you are actually having.

The menu started with four small starters, served in pairs of two. They were paired with Keller’s riesling. Very first appetizer was one the highlights for me, salted trout with roe and karashi was really good. After these came larger starters, featuring hiramasa (yellowtail kingfish), lobster and the probably the best dish of the evening, caviar with cauliflower and miso. Along these was also the only miss of the evening. I think the grapefruit and pomelo took over the lobster so much that the dish was not on the level of the other ones. With caviar, wine pairing was naturally champagne (Lambardier-Bernier).

More fish & seafood came in mains, first dover sole and then langoustine. Last main was white tail deer served with amazing brioche so you could take each drop of the sauce Périgueux from your plate.

There were also two supplements that you could order for the menu. First scallops with truffle (50 euros) and then a cheese trolley with condiments (25 euros). We skipped the first one but went with the cheese which did not disappoint me. Seven different cheese with interesting condiments was a real treat.

The dessert part of the menu was quite extensive, first two larger ones and then some small bites with also something you would necessary expect to find in two-star place, tiger cake. But don’t get me wrong, fresh from the oven cake was delicious. For dessert wine, there was interesting choice from Romania, ice wine by Liliac & Kracher.

Was it the best food I’ve ever had, definitely not. Was it most interesting restaurant experience ever, I might have to say yes. We stayed there nearly five hours, which really did not feel like overkill in a sense that we would have needed to wait for food much or anything like that. Several little details made it a night to remember. Writing them down here would not do justice, I strongly recommend for you experiencing it yourself. Of course, all this does not come with a small price tag. Menu costs you 210 euros and wine pairing 190. Add there the negroni, cheese, tawny port and a 1986 calvados and you are looking at spending 500 euros for a meal.

Kultá Kitchen & Bar

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Helsinki, Finland

When you think of Lapland themed restaurant at the hotel in Helsinki, first thought might be if it a cheesy tourist trap serving mediocre food or something else. First impression of Kultá was opposite, what comes to décor. Some lappish elements but not too many. A bit of feeling of a hotel restaurant, but hey, that’s what it is.

Right after walking in I got feeling that waiters might be understaffed as it took almost ten minutes for them to show us our table. Then another ten minutes to bring the menus and get order for some drinks. We did not waste anymore time there as we had decided beforehand that we would go with a five course tasting. This time it was a little bit different as they are having “Artic Ocean” menu for couple of weeks. Price for the menu is 74€ and wine pairing adds 65 euros.

After a bit of more waiting (almost an hour from walking in) menu started with two types of bread and browned butter, along with amuse-bouche of mushrooms and rainbow trout roe. That was promising start. Next dish with hand peeled shrimps and cucumber was quite good as well. After this was in my opinion the best dish of the menu, smoked willow grouse with beetroot cooked three different ways. Beetroot complemented perfectly very smoky bird breast.

After this came monkfish with mussels and roe. All in all tasty, but I think less components in this one would have resulted tastier and more elegant dish. Also the fish was not evenly salted. Second main was, as you might guess from the Lapland theme, reindeer fillet. On a side was really good, creamy parsnip puree. Dessert had cloudberry and ice cream and something else, but this brought to the table by different waitress, who did not tell what she served and left quickly before we could even ask.

Overall quite good experience, but I think menu was a bit pricey and they would need more staff to have smoother experience. Wine pairing was really good and service friendly and professional, except for the points mentioned earlier.

Chapter

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Helsinki, Finland

https://www.chapter.fi/

First time going to any proper restaurant since start of COVID-19 and suitably Chapter had reopened in beginning of October as Chapter 2.0. After hearing many good things about this place, I was really looking forward to visit.

On Wednesday night there was plenty of room and in fact we were the only ones in the that dining room consisting of 6 tables. Under the circumstances it was nice but felt anyway bit weird.

Restaurant is situated in the heart of Helsinki, in a beautiful old building with a nice view to senate square. I liked the interior as well. Although my dining companion described the chairs being a bit of Liberace style and there certainly is some truth in that.

For the dining options, your choices are very limited making it easy for you. It is either full menu (84€) or short menu (62€). But short menu is not that short, it only lack mushroom and onion ravioli and Rose buds and lingonberry from the full menu.

We went with short menu and also with recommended wine pairing (48€). It seems that the natural wine boom is still going strong and cannot describe any of the wines being excellent. Probably from now on should just not go with the pairings if they consist only out of natural wines.

Anyway, the food for every dish was on either good or excellent. Menu starts with two small snacks, out of which the beetroot tartlet was amazing. After house bread came another highlight, razor clam (at least that what it writes on the website, I can’t remember was it razor clam or something similar) with celeriac. After that was arctic char with a bit too heavy sauce followed by my absolute favorite of the whole menu: potato and sour cream. Creamy and soft potato yumminess under red onions and crispy potato chip-like pieces. So tasty!

And that said comes the nitpicking: on the menu you have an option to “upgrade” that potato dish with vendace roe (extra 8€). Couple of things: what is chef’s view, is this dish supposed to be served with roe or not? Or he/she couldn’t decide and offloaded the choice to the poor customer not knowing anything about dish before tasting it. Also I think the roe would have just disappeared there with bringing any extra. I hope this kind of the trend isn’t coming more popular. It is very different from asking if you want extra cheese or bacon with your burger. There was also option for the ravioli to pimp it with some cheese.

Main dish from from hanger steak good overall as were the desserts (Apple, celery and almond, Korvapuusti and dark chocolate).

Demo

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Helsinki, Finland

Demo has been sitting there almost two decades, once rebuilt after a fire and has kept its star since 2007. Still I have not managed visit Demo, until today. Only option is to go with the selected menu, but you can choose 4,5,6 or 7 dishes (65€/78€/95€/105€) with wine pairing that almost doubles the price (for 7 dish menu, 97€).

The service is welcoming and feeling very cozy from the beginning. Started the evening with class of champagne (22€) and two amuse-bouch, especially the latter one with crunchy potato and black aioli was a real treat.

First dish from the menu was mussel in creamy, almost a soup like, sauce with some fennel. That was served with some small pieces of nice sourdough bread. Followed by two fish dishes, first arctic char with Jerusalem artichoke, furnished with pike roe and then braised burbot with cauliflower. Both very good, but the fish on the one had cooled a bit too much before brought to the table.

Unfortunately, the weakest link in the menu was the main. The pigeon with beetroot just did not make it. Imagine how sweet and smooth beetroot purée can be, then imagine complete opposite; that’s how it was here. Also there were some hazelnut (might have some other nut?) pieces that just did not feel like belonging there. Pigeon was ok, but nothing special.

After this it was time for dessert, first a bit weird (but nevertheless interesting and tasty) Klostertaler cheese with almond, followed by superb apple mille-feuille and even better lime soufflé with coconut ice cream on a side.

Finished the meal with cup of nice coffee (10€) served with some (hand-made?) sweets. As said, nice and flawless service, not too chatty though. 3.5 hours went by in a nice rhythm, not waiting too long at any point and the dishes not coming too fast after each other.

Overall nice and would go again, hoping to get a better main dish. Pricing is maybe a bit too steep, about 250 euros for one person (they charge also 9€ per person for water).

ORA

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Helsinki, Finland

Tiny (less than 20 pax) restaurant in southern Helsinki. One out of Helsinki’s six Michelin star places. In same premises operated before restaurant “Chef & Sommelier”. Only the chef remained and end-result was ORA.

Layout of the tables leaves no question what is going on in this place. The kitchen is the stage and customers are the audience. Not that they would put out a show or anything like that, but all the tables are set so that you see the kitchen from your place.

They only serve one set menu with 6 dishes (priced reasonably 89€), so don’t have to spend time wondering what you will eat. They also do wine pairing for the menu and you can choose either 4 or 6 wines. Or anything else from the wine menu naturally.

Amuse-bouche was a bit heavy start with sea-buckthorn dominating quite much the overall flavor on this little bit wrapped in horseradish leaf. But the first dish was no nonsense anymore, absolutely amazing lightly cured rainbow trout with rolls of yellow beets filled with self-made sour cream.

I’ll quickly list the rest of the dishes: “First autumn leaves with horseradish”, “Red chard with grapes and striped beets”, Pike-perch with crayfish and corn”, “Pumpkin, apple and coffee”.’

Careful reader might notice that makes only five dishes, correct. Because I had to mention this one separately. Without a doubt, one of the best (if not the best?) dishes ever: lamb with thin kohlrabi slices and a croquette with shiitake. On top of this poured the most aromatic brown sauce. If the other end of piece of lamb had not been weirdly a bit not-so-warm, I would have left out the question mark away from the above.

Service was top notch, but with a minor glitch. There was 80 euro miscalculation in the bill and not in my favor. And after mentioning about that, maybe a little bit more than a quick “sorry” would have been in order.

The wines were ok, some better than the other. Just saying that maybe should have gone with champagne instead of the Austrian sparkling rose (those were not part of the paired wines). And maybe nowadays it is more important for some, how and who produces the wine, than actually how it tastes…well, go figure.